Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Li Renchi nodded thoughtfully, and just as he was about to take his leave, Li Zongdi waved to him, telling him not to rush off: "Was it really that princess who ran out on her own this time, took the initiative to find Zhi'er, and then told her everything?"

“Yes.” Li Renzhi nodded, his expression showing that he found it somewhat unbelievable whenever he thought about it.

"If Emperor Yongning's daughter had been a man, and he had died a few years earlier, China wouldn't have been in such a state during this world war, and our family wouldn't have had to come to Yingtian Prefecture to resume our old ways."

Li Zongdi's sudden sense of humor made Li Renchi smile. The phrase "returning to old ways" was a rather ridiculous joke. In their early years, the Li family had rebelled against the Zhu family. Later, when faced with the invasion of the Qing army, all parties reunited. Unexpectedly, more than 200 years later, Li Dingguo's descendants had, to some extent, returned to the same job that Li Dingguo had offered in his first job.

"What should we do with this princess? Her Highness is still at Li Che's residence. Wouldn't it be better to bring her back to Yingtian Prefecture? The princess is about the same age as Zhi'er... If..."

At this point, Li Renchi stopped talking and couldn't continue, but his meaning was clear. After all, this princess was a descendant of the previous dynasty's royal family and the only surviving child of Emperor Yongning. How to properly deal with this princess was a matter that needed careful consideration. However, no matter what he thought, Li Che had better keep his distance from this princess.

If a grandson of the Prince of Jin wants to sleep with a girl, whether he wants to be interested in her emotionally or physically, it's usually not a big deal. As long as Li Che doesn't take a fancy to some courtesan who's been used by merchants and then insist on marrying her as a treasure, thus bringing shame to the Li family, there aren't usually so many concerns when it comes to matters of the heart.

However, Zhu Miaoyun was not an option. It wasn't that her status was too noble, but rather that it would be too troublesome. If Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun were together, some people might think that the Prince of Jin's mansion was using its power to force a princess into marriage—using the opportunity of marrying a princess to exploit the politically extinct lineage of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, Li Zongdi and his associates were well aware that, setting aside the possibility of losing the war (which was indeed not a concern), if they won, Li Zongdi's prestige would reach an unparalleled level. At that time, he would most likely become the sole ruler of the country, and regardless of whether the future dynasty was called Jin or Tang, Li Che would certainly be a favorable candidate for the throne.

However, if he marries Zhu Miaoyun, it will be a negative benefit for his future succession to the throne. Just look at Li Shimin's attitude towards Li Ke to see this. He likes her, but when it comes to inheriting the throne, even without the added benefit of Empress Zhangsun, Li Ke is still far from the throne.

"Why is the princess staying at that brat's place?"

"Of course it's for safety. After what just happened, who knows which officials in Songjiang Prefecture are reliable? Besides, none of those officials would want the princess to stay with them. If something happens, who can take responsibility?"

“But we can’t just bring the princess back directly…” Li Zongdi stroked his beard and said, “This princess has given us a great gift this time. Whether it’s for our own sake or our personal life, we owe her a favor. So we must respect her personal opinion and absolutely not let her or the outside world think that we are forcibly manipulating her. So unless the princess is willing to respond to Tianfu, we should not force her.”

"But what if..."

"There are no 'what ifs'!" Li Zongdi probably also felt that this aspect should be considered a little. After all, if the war here is not over yet, and they have already created a little man, the impact will not be good.

"We definitely need to find a way." Li Zongdi was clearly deep in thought.

"Did the Tokugawa family send over a young girl?" Li Zongdi seemed to suddenly remember something. "That young girl seemed to be quite pretty?"

“Father, do you mean............”

"Send this girl over there; she can take good care of that boy's daily life."

So, Father, your previous deep thought wasn't about properly arranging things for the princess, but rather about fearing that something passionate might happen between her and Li Che, so you sent a beautiful girl from Yingzhou to avoid potential trouble—now that's why the two of them won't have any time alone together, right?

If Li Che himself were present, he might feel that his grandfather hadn't learned enough.

A triangular relationship is the most stable relationship (I'm sure of it)!

-------------------------------------

"So, is it because of me that the current purge has occurred?"

Zhu Miaoyun was, after all, a 21st-century girl, and upon hearing the words "anti-rightist purge," she naturally felt a sense of distrust.

In Zhu Miaoyun's memory, whenever there was a purge, it would inevitably involve many people, and even cause many deaths; this had always been the case throughout history.

"Yes, we should thank you properly for this."

"Ah, no need, no need." Zhu Miaoyun quickly waved her hand. Up to this point, her actions were mostly due to the unease she felt as a soul who had suddenly and inexplicably arrived in this world. To put it bluntly, her previous behavior had primarily stemmed from two words:

Begging for a living.

That's it.

And now... even Wang Ma, who had always been by his side, is gone. Zhu Miaoyun never expected that her rare act of courage would result in Wang Ma sacrificing her life.

"May I ask what you plan to do with me?"

Li Che spread his hands and said, "I think you shouldn't say that we've decided how to deal with you. The crimes committed by Emperor Yongning won't involve his children, and you just chose to stand on the side of the country and the people at a critical moment. How can we deal with someone of your status?"

Chapter Forty: Fang Boqian was the first to be arrested.

In front of the submarine command building of the Wusongkou Naval Base in Songjiang Prefecture, a black sedan slowly stopped at the entrance of the command building. It was an imported luxury car, and the red and blue round car logo highlighted the car's extraordinary status in this era—Studebaker.

Of course, in some places, due to the translation of accents, this car is also translated as Stipanne. This luxury car was imported from the Federation before the outbreak of the war. Most of the cars produced in the Ming Dynasty were mid-to-low-end brands. Whether it was the comfort of the ride or the engine and transmission of the vehicle, they were still somewhat inferior to the cars produced in Letania and Colombia.

Although the Federation was the Ming Dynasty's most important adversary during the World War, this did not prevent the Federation cars, which had entered the mainland market before the outbreak of the war, from being sought after by many dignitaries and officials.

Fang Yitang, Admiral of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty and Commander-in-Chief of the Submarine Force, was a staunch supporter of this luxurious Columbia sedan. He particularly admired the Columbia's powerful engine and robust body, even though its fuel consumption was somewhat high... However, fuel consumption was clearly the least important factor for our Commander-in-Chief Fang. The Steudborg sedan that had just stopped was Fang Yitang's personal vehicle.

In fact, Fang Yitang had not visited the Navy Headquarters in recent months. After all, many people in the military believed that the war had entered a dead end, and the submarine force was the "stepchild" that was not well received in the Navy. Therefore, no one paid much attention to the current state of the submarine force in the past period of time.

However, today, Fang Yitang specially dressed in a full set of general's uniform and traveled here by car—the current grandson and future crown prince, Li Che, has arrived at the submarine command today.

Although the grandson's military rank was only colonel, everyone knew that Li Che was now the de facto imperial envoy. Imperial envoys were judged by their power and responsibilities, not their rank, so Fang Yitang dared not be negligent.

As soon as the car came to a stop, several guards at the entrance of the naval headquarters came up and opened the car door. Fang Yitang immediately recognized that these guards were not the original ones from the submarine command. It seemed that these were the people under the Grandson's command. He did not expect that the Grandson would send people to wait for him at the door and open the door for him. It seemed that the Grandson treated him well.

So when the car door opened, Fang Yitang smiled broadly, saying, "Thank you all for your hard work," and prepared to shake hands with the guards. In the past, Fang Yitang would never have had such a friendly interaction with the lower-ranking officers and soldiers, but things were different now.

Fang Yitang is getting on in years and has basically reached the end of his career in the navy. But he still has a son, right? Maybe he can take this opportunity to let his son get closer to the grandson. If his son can get on the grandson's good side and gain connections, he might have a chance to become the future naval commander of the new dynasty!

But just as this fantasy surfaced in his mind, Fang Yitang found that he did not receive a hand outstretched in return. This made Fang Yitang, who had already extended one hand, feel a little embarrassed and slightly annoyed. Who the hell trained this soldier? He is so uncooperative. I am a naval admiral, after all. I shook hands with you and you just left me hanging like this.

However, the next moment, the officer in front of Fang Yitang pulled out a red-headed document from somewhere and held it up in front of Fang Yitang: "General Fang Yitang, because the suspect in a treason case being investigated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard is suspected of having close contact with you, according to a special administrative order from the Naval Military and Political Department, you are now subject to 'two restrictions'. Please cooperate with the investigators and truthfully explain the relevant situation. Alright, Commander, please come with us."

Fang Yitang's mind was completely blank. He never expected that at his age, he would still be subject to "two restrictions." While he was still in a daze, two soldiers, both over 1.8 meters tall, came to his side, put their arms around him from both sides, and then led him into the headquarters.

"What are you doing!" Fang Yitang exclaimed immediately after realizing what was happening. "I came here to see the Crown Prince and attend a meeting! What are you doing?! Let me go! I want to see the Crown Prince! No, I want to see the Prince of Jin!"

-------------------------------------

Li Che looked at Fang Yitang in the interrogation room through a one-way glass window. After scrutinizing him for a while, he turned to face the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a special envoy from the Naval Military and Political Department beside him: "He didn't confess anything?"

After the two men exchanged a glance, the Jinyiwei officer stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Reporting to the Grandson, General Fang Yitang is still a general, but he is currently under 'two-time restrictions'. There are no actual crimes or related evidence. We can only speculate that he may be related to Qin Zhaoming. If he is unwilling to talk, we can't just take action ourselves."

Li Che nodded with a slight pout. What the Embroidered Uniform Guard said made sense. Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard had the ability to make dead mummies and bears in the forest confess their crimes, this ability obviously couldn't be used on Fang Yitang right now.

After all, he is a naval admiral, and his status and position are what they are. The two restrictions only require him to explain the issues clearly at a specified time and place. However, if the other party really insists on not saying anything, although this behavior itself will greatly increase his suspicion, you really can't use any means to deal with it.

Because they are not prisoners now.

However, this result was quite unexpected for Li Che. In Li Che's original plan, Fang Yitang would confess easily after being taken into custody. After all, Li Che had a thorough understanding of the modern history of the other world, and he had naturally heard of the name of the runaway general Fang Yitang.

As the captain of the Jiyuan, the best-performing and most powerful cruiser in the Beiyang Fleet besides the two Zhiyuan-class protected cruisers, he deserted his post several times on the battlefield, abandoning his comrades and even ramming and sinking his own ships in his haste to escape. He was a complete scoundrel and a villain among villains.

Although in this timeline, Fang Yitang did not have the opportunity to become a fleeing general—after all, the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy had an absolute size advantage throughout the East for a long time.

However, based on Li Che's comparison of the experiences of some people in the two worlds over the years, he can draw a conclusion: although people in the two worlds have different experiences and choices due to different histories, their basic human characteristics remain unchanged.

In summary, a person of bad character may not have the opportunity to break the law in this world, but that does not mean that their character has become good.

How could Fang Yitang, such an incompetent coward, possibly be so tough?

Don't be fooled by his current position as commander of the naval submarine force. If you look at Fang Yitang's contemporaries, most of them worked in the main combat fleet. Only Fang Yitang, after serving as a battleship captain, was later transferred to the submarine force and eventually rose to the position of commander-in-chief within it.

He was even promoted to this position after his old classmate became the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

Fang Boqian's appointment as commander-in-chief of this submarine force is enough for him to write an entire book titled "Me and My Naval Commander Brothers" later on.

"In that case, I'll go and see what he's got."

Li Che decided to go in and meet Commander Fang himself to see if Fang Yitang had truly changed his nature in this world.

The result of personally taking the lead did not disappoint him—his past experience proved correct. Upon seeing who had entered, Fang Yitang burst into tears and began to speak without even letting Li Che utter a single word.

This guy didn't change his nature and become a tough nut to crack; it's just that this "smart guy" knows who he should surrender to.

This left Li Che, who had prepared a whole repertoire of talking points, feeling as if he had been choked off.

Although there was some inexplicable disappointment, saving time was the most important thing at the moment. Being able to give an explanation was a good thing. However, Li Che originally thought that Fang Yitang was deeply involved because he was crying like this, but he soon discovered that Fang Yitang was probably just trying to make money.

You really can't think too highly of a guy's integrity and potential if he hasn't been to his own headquarters for months.

The relationship between this guy and Qin Zhaoming was indeed just a simple exchange of money. Or rather, this fool was the one being used. He thought he was opening a back door for smuggling, but he didn't expect that the other party's real purpose was not to make money from smuggled goods. The other party had much bigger ambitions!

When the materials Fang Yitang provided were placed in front of Sa Dingming, Sa Dingming's face turned ashen and extremely ugly. As the saying goes, "An incompetent general can ruin an entire army." This Fang Yitang was only concerned with making money, and as a result, not only was he himself deceived, but more importantly, there was no way to break through him now—the enemy must have planted spies in the submarine force, but there was no way to quickly determine where those spies were planted.

Under other circumstances, one could naturally start by investigating Qin Zhaoming's surroundings one by one and eventually dig out these spies. However, the original battle plan is now imminent, and preparations from all sides are almost in place. At this critical juncture, there simply isn't enough time to thoroughly investigate and root out the spies within the submarine force.

"Then let's not investigate at all." After thinking it over, Li Che asked tentatively, "Actually, if we think about it the other way around, perhaps we can use these nails in a different way?"

"Use it in reverse? How?"

Sa Dingming pressed on anxiously, saying that the navy had already lost face in front of the people after losing the Java Sea, and now the submarine force had run into such a mess. If this got out, the people would stab the navy officers and soldiers in the back.

Therefore, Sa Dingming is now desperately hoping to salvage the situation. He is like a top seed who has been eliminated in the round of 32. If he cannot find an opportunity to prove himself, he will probably be nailed to the pillar of shame for the rest of his life.

“What we’re worried about is that the enemy has spies hidden in their submarine force who will pass on intelligence to the enemy. But what if we do the opposite and deliberately leak some false information so that these spies can pass it back to the enemy?” Li Che then used the Leitanians as an example: “During this world war, the Leitanians actually used their embassy in London to develop spies and gather intelligence. As a result, the Victorians kept an eye on the Leitanian embassy, ​​and while they killed many of the spies developed by the Leitanians, they also deliberately left some behind to leak false information to the Leitanians.”

After Li Che gave this example, Sa Dingming and Liu Duncheng looked at each other in disbelief. They had never heard of such a idiotic operation by a Leitanian ally—the two sides were already at war, and you still used the embassy to develop spies? Did you think the target wasn't obvious enough? Or did you think Victoria's MI5 and MI6 were blind?

Although the head of MI6 was an outsider, he wasn't stupid.

Li Che could see that Sa Dingming and his men were extremely shocked by the actions of the Leitanians, but they did not question them. Perhaps it was because the Leitanians had made too many bizarre intelligence maneuvers in this war, and such idiotic actions seemed not so incomprehensible.

It can only be said that the Letanians may indeed lack the talent for developing intelligence.

"If that's the case, then perhaps we can indeed use this against them, but what information should we reveal?"

"The intelligence revealed needs to be reasonable. Reasonableness is reflected in the logical reasoning of the intelligence content itself and the reasonable process of intelligence leakage. For example, we cannot give the detailed arrangements of surface ships to the spies lurking in our submarine force."

While pondering, Liu Duncheng said, "I think we can issue an order for all submarines currently on duty outside, except those in the Yingzhou Sea, to quickly return to their home ports. Tell them that we will concentrate these submarine forces to head south and attack the British Navy fleet, while also attempting to conduct limited submarine warfare in the Barat Sea. In this way, we can both leak false intelligence and use a suitable reason to call back all the submarines scattered outside."

“Yes, calling them back allows us to do a final screening before the operation, and also... it allows us to concentrate our forces for the next attack on Yuanshan.” Sa Dingming nodded in agreement, and after exchanging a glance with Liu Duncheng, they both turned their gazes to Li Che, their eyes filled with praise and admiration.

What a wise and intelligent grandson!

However, Li Che's expression was a little strange after listening to it—although the overall idea sounded fine, it just felt very ominous.

If I remember correctly, the last time I saw the entire fleet's high command gather the fleet together under the pretext of eliminating uncertainties within the fleet, and then who was it that carried out the mission? Anyway, the final result was quite celebratory.

Two thousand firecrackers...

He quickly shook his head to banish these ominous thoughts. The operation against Wonsan Port was about to begin, and he couldn't afford to have such thoughts.

"Let's do it this way. Let's teach the Commonwealth people another lesson and show them how to fight without the Victorians!"

Testimonials

Another book is ready to be put on the shelves.

This book is a rare opportunity to recapture the feeling I had when writing "The Great Ming Maritime Power". When I was conceiving this book, I had many ideas, such as whether to give the male protagonist a useless system that serves as a吐槽 (tu cao, meaning to roast or criticize) role.

However, all these fancy ideas were eventually abandoned, and the book ultimately returned to the most fundamentalist approach—the confrontation between great powers and the fate of the nation and the individual.

First, let's talk about the characters. Character development has always been my weakness, so I chose to use a historical figure as a personality template for the characters in the book. I believe that you can tell from the names of the characters that have already appeared who their personalities are similar to in history.

The male protagonist's grandfather, Li Zongdi, corresponds to Zhu Di; the male protagonist's father, Li Renchi, corresponds to a not-so-fat Zhu Gaochi; and the second and third uncles naturally correspond to Zhu Gaoxu and the arrogant hermit.

As for the male protagonist, I believe you can tell from his name and nickname "Zhi'er" that I wrote him based on the template of Liu Che.

The advantage of this writing style, in my opinion, is that it makes the characters, especially their personalities, more vivid and lifelike, for a mediocre writer like myself who isn't very good at writing characters.

Of course, since Liu Che was chosen as the template for the male protagonist, it also means that the male protagonist is not perfect. Among the emperors in ancient China, Emperor Wu of Han was not considered a wise ruler for a long time. Liu Che's reputation gradually improved, which I think is largely due to the fact that in modern times, when we recall the powerful Han Empire he built and think of the humiliating modern history, most people will selectively forget his mistakes.

History is a god of war; what people ultimately remember and what leaves the deepest impression are inevitably the strongest figures in history.

Next, let's talk about the nation. The Tang Dynasty, which will be established in the future (don't ask me why the nation established by the Prince of Jin's family isn't called Jin; the responsibility lies entirely with the Sima family!), is far inferior to the Ming Dynasty in terms of maritime power in every aspect.

Before the outbreak of World War I, the Ming Dynasty was a super empire that accounted for half of the world's industrial output and had an industrial population that was almost equal to the total population of the United States. It was a behemoth that defeated the Allied Powers with a single hand without ever fully mobilizing during the war.

The Ming Dynasty possesses the world's best design department, the most powerful shipbuilding industry, and the most outstanding manufacturing level (at least one of the best). Technologically, it is half a generation ahead of other countries. It is a country where the equipment is more sophisticated than yours, and the number of troops produced is also greater.

However, the Tang Dynasty was different. The Tang Dynasty in the book was not a weak country, but it was not the strongest country in the world for a long time. This country, which was built on the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, relied on its size advantage to maintain itself in many aspects.

For example, the annual steel production is 1,500 million tons. The steel production of a country with a population of 5 million is about the same as that of Germany with a population of tens of millions, and less than half of that of the United States. Naturally, the quality of high-end armor steel and other steels cannot compare with that of Britain and Germany.

But can you say that this country is really weak? After all, that's 1,500 million tons of steel production. Japan's highest steel production before the rise of anime was only a little over 600 million tons.

In future books, from a plot perspective, it's impossible for the Tang Dynasty to dominate everything with its overwhelming national power like the Ming Dynasty. In the previous book, Ming diplomats could point their fingers at the British and say that the Ming Dynasty could provide every merchant fleet in the Indian Ocean with a battlecruiser for escort, and that for every ship the British had, they would provide the same number of battlecruisers. The Tang Dynasty couldn't say something like that, because even after development and catching up, the Tang Dynasty and the United States would still be considered to be rivals of the same level in terms of national power.

Therefore, the main point of this book is clear: when two countries with roughly equal comprehensive national strength but different strengths and weaknesses in different fields engage in all-round confrontation and competition, and their strengths are similar, skills become even more important.

Finally, let me say a word about the emotional part. The most important female protagonist is, of course, Miss Zhu Miaoyun, who has already appeared. Back in the early stages of the book's creation and discussion, some guys in the group suggested that I gender-bending Zhu Shaoming. You guys are ruined by gender-bending boys in this life.

However, Zhu Shaoming will appear in a different way later (I'm sure of it), but I'll keep you in suspense for now.

Aside from the female lead, the emotional aspects of this novel, in my imagination, can basically be seen as a "princess collection." The evil political marriages will arrange for our male protagonist to receive "princess" from the Shogunate, a princess from Korea, a princess from Ryukyu, and even a princess from Romanov.

After its release, the subsequent plot is basically interconnected, from the Battle of Yuanshan Port breaking the stalemate of the sea blockade, to the Tang Dynasty version of Operation Thunder Serbrus' long sea expedition, and then to the intrigue and power struggles between the parties after the final ceasefire until the signing of the naval treaty.

I will try my best to provide a substantial storyline. Many readers have pointed out that the technical explanations may affect the reading experience, and I will try to control the length of those sections. However, this is, after all, a fictional novel that focuses on technical aspects, and there are many things that cannot be completely avoided. What I can do is—if it doesn't work, I'll just add more chapters.

I think this is a pretty good solution? Or I'll release the technical details as a side story.

Finally, I hope everyone can subscribe. Your support is my biggest motivation to update. Pig farming is really easy to kill, so it would be best to enable automatic subscription. Thank you all.

Then I tested positive again these past two days. I'm feeling a bit better today, and I'll update more for everyone this weekend. Normally, I'd be updating like crazy after the book is released, but right now our hospital is undergoing its tertiary hospital review, so I'll do my best.